Photos of History

As promised, here are some of my photos from inauguration day. Hopefully it gives some sense of what it was like on the ground. I should emphasize that my camera does not have a zoom feature (I know) so what you're seeing is pretty much exactly what I saw. No camera tricks.

This is a picture of the mob trying to get into the silver gate. This is just the group going into one of the ticketed gates, which doesn't even touch on all the people who were standing out on the mall without tickets. Just to give some perspective.

I swear to you that this shot is of Obama taking the oath of office. Obviously, it's a little tough to tell from my vantage point, but it's really happening. I swear. Did I mention that my camera doesn't have a zoom?

This kid was from North Carolina. He was super excited to be there. As his mom said, "He loves Obama." Even though it was freezing cold and involved lots of standing (two things that kids don't usually do well with), he was smiling pretty much the whole time. This picture was taken just after Obama took the oath of office. I really wonder what he's thinking. From looking at him, he seems to be taking it very seriously. You could almost imagine him thinking, "I can do that" in a way that wouldn't really be the case with any of the other presidential candidates over the last year. Looking at this kid (even more than the crying woman just out of the frame on the left) I think I could understand a little more of what it means to have elected a black president.

The irony, of course, is that the kid was probably thinking about how cold he was or how he had to go to the bathroom. Still, it was a pretty incredible moment.